Snowbirds

dedicate fields By HILLARY DICKERSON The story of the field's namesake goes back several decades, according to the Rev. John McCracken, rector of the cathedral parish. The six acres of land was donated to the school in the early 1960s by the Mackowiak family. William Mackowiak, who immigrated to the United States from Poland at the age of 10, was an early Gaylord farmer, businessman and investor with a active interest in church and community life. Through the years the land was used as a ballfield and eventually became the site of several St. Mary building projects.

BELLAIRE — The St. Mary baseball team benefited from a consistent night Monday, as the Snowbirds swept Bellaire to finish 7-7 in the Ski Valley Conference. The Snowbirds (11-11 overall) won 6-2 and 13-3 to secure fourth place in the Ski Valley standings. In the opener, junior Lucas Butcher had his second-straight excellent outing, inheriting the ace role because senior Peter Spyhalski was out with the flu. Butcher did not disappoint, giving up just two hits as both runs were unearned.

ONAWAY - Onaway tried to take the wind out of the sails of a St. Mary girls' basketball team coming off an emotional win Tuesday against Johannesburg-Lewiston. The Cardinals employed a stall during Thursday's game, and the Snowbirds calmly weathered the strategy to a 29-14 victory. “We could have pressured them more, but I knew we have a game coming up (today) Saturday, so we were content taking the air out as well,” St. Mary coach Dan Smith said. “The girls got a little bit frustrated but not too much.

GAYLORD - The St. Mary softball team made it look easy Monday in a 15-0 and 17-7 sweep of Pellston. The Snowbirds improved to 12-8 overall and 8-6 in the Ski Valley Conference. There were plenty of strong performances to go around in both contests. In game one, Katie Rutkowski drove in four runs, while Savannah Sullivan, Caylee Lawnichak and Jada Bebble each drove in two. Emily Butcher, Karli Jacob, Sullivan, Lawnichak, Rutkowski and Bebble each had a pair of hits, while Chrissy Smith scored three runs.

MANCELONA — Attrition once again took its toll on the St. Mary football team Friday night. After hanging with host Mancelona for a bit, a key injury to the Snowbirds helped the Ironmen take a 52-21 home victory. Senior Adam Palmer went down in the first quarter with a recurring knee injury and it didn’t help an already-thin St. Mary (0-3) team. “We hung in there, but once Palmer went down we had to flip flop,” said St. Mary coach Bob Cherwinski. “They (Mancelona)

ALANSON — Happy to get that one out of the way. That’s how the St. Mary boys basketball team felt following Tuesday’s season-opening 60-39 victory at Alanson. The youthful Snowbirds’ team showed some early jitters, did enough to forge the big victory. “The young guys were nervous and it showed,” said Ken Blust, who was victorious in his first-ever varsity game. “We got into foul trouble early, but we were able to get under control in the second half.

GAYLORD - The St. Mary boys' basketball team took its record to 2-0 Thursday night when they defeated a youthful Harbor Light squad, 49-20. Playing a Swordsmen team with only two seniors, the Snowbirds approached the contest with a business-like demeanor. “We made it a focal point tonight to be patient and play basketball,” said St. Mary coach Ken Blust. “We wanted to stay on the ground, stay in our shoes and not jump out of the gym. That's what they did.” The up-tempo St. Mary defense put pressure on the Harbor Light ball handlers, forcing one turnover after another.

BELLAIRE — It was the type of performance Chris McKenzie has been looking for all season long. McKenzie’s St. Mary boys basketball team led from start-to-finish in a 64-48 road victory against a Bellaire team who came in with a perfect 13-0 Ski Valley Conference record. “It was the way that I thought we would play all year,” McKenzie said. “We played well in the beginning, middle and end. We led from start-to-finish.” The key portion of the game came when Snowbird senior Clay Becker, the team’s leading scorer, wasn’t even involved.

BOYNE CITY - The St. Mary cross-country team took eighth place at Wednesday's unique Boyne Valley Co-ed Relays. The event pairs teams of male and female competitors, whose times are combined together. The Snowbirds' Christina Smith and Adam Makarewicz combined for a time of 42:02, placing them ninth overall. Other top teams for St. Mary included Savannah Sullivan and Nick Masko (33rd, 47:10); Alysse Masko and Dylan Masko (36th, 48:27); and Natalie Burzynski and Levi Milan (55th, 52:17)

ONAWAY — It was a great regular season for the St. Mary girls basketball team, but none of that mattered heading into the postseason. Following a lackluster performance against Rogers City in Wednesday's District opener, coach Kevin Foster gave that reminder to his team. A team meeting and spirited practice seemed to lift up the Snowbirds, who played very well in a 56-25 win against Onaway that fueled a District championship Friday. "We had to regroup," said St. Mary coach Kevin Foster.

MANCELONA - St. Mary travels to Mancelona Friday night in what the Snowbirds hope ends in an eyebrow-raising win in Ironmen Country. St. Mary hasn't left Mancelona with its head raised since Sept. 12, 2008, when a punishing running attack led by Arron Sitkiewicz's 179 yards got the best of dual-threat quarterback Greg Blanco and the Ironmen. The names have changed and the schemes flipped since. The Ironmen have been punishing defensive personnel across the Ski Valley Conference for the past few seasons, and Snowbird quarterback Nick Harrington's long runs have shredded opposing schemes all season long.

GAYLORD - The St. Mary Middle School football team continued to dominate, pushing its record to 3-0 with a 40-0 win against Forest Area last week. Yet again, shifty quarterback Alex Cherry led the Snowbirds, passing for touchdowns to Joshua Powers and Nicholas Switalski, and returning the opening kickoff of the second half for a 76-yard score. Overall, Cherry was 5-for-6 passing, with additional catches by Marcus Krussell and Cal Gilling. Cherry's bruiser-buddy in the backfield, Eamon Curran, again led all rushers with 143 yards, including an 80-yard run to the end zone.

GAYLORD - The St. Mary football team enjoyed home cooking for just the second time this season Friday night, squaring its season record at 3-3 with a 41-22 victory against Ubly. It was St. Mary's first home victory since 2009. Several familiar story lines emerged for the Snowbirds. Quarterback Nick Harrington had another blistering day of offense with 242 yards and four touchdowns. Also, the Snowbirds scored 40 or more points for the fourth time this season. But the defense put on the most impressive show Friday as the Snowbirds slowed an experienced Bearcat Wing-T attack.

MANCELONA - The St. Mary volleyball team dropped a Ski Valley Conference match at Mancelona Tuesday, 25-22, 10-25, 23-25 and 17-25. Coach Becky Masko said there was some things to work on, but it was an otherwise solid match. “We need to continue to work on coverage, as we were caught out of position and Mancelona took advantage of the holes,” Masko said. “(But) all the girls shined on the court tonight in one play or another. Each of the girls attempted to put in an extra effort to keep the ball in play and that's what I like to see.” Sophomore Alysse Masko was the high server on the night with 20 points.

GAYLORD - The St. Mary middle school football team is still undefeated after a 22-0 home victory Tuesday against Central Lake. The Snowbirds were again led by quarterback Alex Cherry, who scored the first touchdown on a 3-yard run in the first quarter. The game was broken open in the second half when Eamon Curran rumbled for most of his 137 yards on the ground, scoring two more touchdowns to put the game out of reach. Cherry contributed 39 rushing yards and connected with Joshua Powers and Drew Long on passes.

GAYLORD - The 2013 Snowbird Open will take place Sunday at Gaylord Country Club. The event will feature a 1 p.m. shotgun start and uses a four-person scramble format. Price is $90 per person, which includes cart, sandwich and beverage. There will also be prizes. All proceeds go to St. Mary Cathedral School. Contact J.T. Aude at 231-546-3376 to pre-register. OCHA signups Sept. 29 at Sportsplex GAYLORD - The Otsego County Hockey Association registration is from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept.

GAYLORD - The St. Mary junior varsity volleyball squad upped its record to 2-0 in conference play on Thursday with a nice win against Forest Area. “All the girls played extremely well,” said Snowbird coach Alyson Bunker. “We are starting out the season strong and we are only getting better.” Danica Bebble led the team with eight assists and two aces. Giorgi Nowicki had seven attacks with two kills, and Bailey Juneac had one ace and was strong in the back row. Sam Harvey had a kill and an attack, while Morgan Juneac had four attacks and two kills and Elizabeth Switalski had four assists and three aces.

GAYLORD - Another wild shootout, another one-point loss for St. Mary. Following the blueprint of a week one 55-54 loss to Hillman, the Snowbirds lost a nearly identical 42-41 thriller to Central Lake Friday. Snowbird coach Kevin O'Connell was in no point to gloat about his team's eye-popping offense, however. He pointed to two things - the Snowbirds five turnovers and Central Lake's ability to jam the ball down the field with their Wing-T offense. “We didn't take care of the ball and we got physically beat,” O'Connell said.

GAYLORD - The St. Mary cross-country squad may not compete for a State title this season but nobody will notice with all the excitement for the future. It all starts at the girls' team with the top two runners too young to take drivers' training yet. Eighth grader Averi Bebble already has a first place medal on the season and is running in the 23-minute area on the young season. Bebble combines with freshman Elizabeth Harbin to be what coach Dick Goepp will be a dynamic future duo. Gabby Schultz, another freshman, is right in the mix. Despite the talent in the underclassmen, Goepp remains cautious about overpressuring his team.

PELLSTON - The St. Mary football squad used a balanced rushing attack to engineer a second half comeback in a 33-21 road victory at Pellston 33-21 Friday. The win was St. Mary's first since Aug. 26, 2011, and it couldn't have come at a better time for Snowbird fans. It stopped the longest losing streak in school history - 18 games. Coach Kevin O'Connell recognized the big picture of the victory for an entire St. Mary community. “I get so caught up in the game while it's happening but I looked around afterward and it was overwhelming to see how many people where there,” O'Connell said.